Family Functioning and Residential Treatment Outcomes

This study examined data on 8933 children and adolescents placed into residential treatment programs. Treatment outcomes were highly associated with the level of family functioning, including program completion overall, program completion by level of care, restrictiveness of discharge environment, behavioral improvements, and client functioning at discharge. The results of this study have significant implications for the treatment of children in residential care. First, a simple method for assessing family functioning at the time of referral can be used effectively to guide level of care placement decisions, thereby potentially reducing the number of unsuccessful placements. Second, this study suggests that a fundamental change is called for in the residential care industry in that providing effective family treatment may be the key to substantially more effective treatment outcomes.